Attorneys seeking thousands of families owed money by Veterans Affairs

OTTAWA — Lawyers are trying to reach hundreds of thousands of people who are owed money in a class-action lawsuit against Veterans Affairs.

The lawsuit was launched after the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman found that the government had been incorrectly calculating its clients’ disability benefits and pensions since 2003.

The government reached a settlement in January worth up to $817 million.

The problem was uncovered when the ombudsman reviewed department documents after the government made changes to the disability award in 2016.

It found that Veterans Affairs did not take into account the basic provincial tax credit in calculating provincial income tax, but when the department later realized and corrected the error, it failed to notify and reimburse people who were being paid less .

At the time, the ombudsman believed that about 270,000 veterans had been deprived of about $165 million in what it considered an “accounting error.” The department committed to issue corrective payments in 2018.

Michel Drapeau’s firm was among the five law firms that eventually filed the class action in 2019.

The lawsuit also alleged that Veterans Affairs made other miscalculations, including failing to adjust payments for inflation.

“When we looked at it, we found that there were actually a lot more benefits that weren’t properly indexed over a longer period of time,” he said.

Drapeau said the miscalculations actually spanned 21 years, from 2003 to 2023, meaning the number of eligible veterans was significantly higher than originally thought.

About 117,000 military and RCMP veterans who have a benefit or payment relationship with Veterans Affairs will receive payments from the department directly before December.

Another 215,000 eligible people have died since then, and Drapeau said if their surviving family members don’t file a claim, they will lose the payment.

Eligible applicants could be surviving spouses, common-law spouses, children, parents, siblings, nieces or nephews, or the veteran’s estate.

“We’re trying every means possible to let them know,” Drapeau said.

He said they have already launched a search for people on social media, through advertising campaigns and contacting the Royal Canadian Legion. In addition, a mailout was sent to the last known addresses of approximately 200,000 people.

On average, claims are worth about $2,500. Under the Federal Court settlement, 40 people are eligible for payments of more than $35,000, but most of the payments are less than $5,000.

Management and consultancy firm KPMG has been hired to help people submit their applications, which can be done online.

The federal government is responsible for the costs of administering the claims, and KPMG does not receive funding from the settlement itself.

The deadline for submitting an application is March 19, 2025.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 26, 2024.

Sarah Ritchie, Canadian Press